Hotel Maui DDM – New Hip Budget Hotel in Seoul

I have three main criteria of a good accommodation; Cleanliness, Affordability and Location. That’s all we actually need for a hotel to have but I want to say now that Hotel Maui didn’t just pass all my criteria but they even surpass it.

This blog post is my review of this new hip hotel that was just opened September of this year 2016! Let’s all check out what this Hotel has to offer.

Hotel Maui is located in Dongdaemun area situated between Dongmyo and Sinseol-dong station, just around 3-5 minutes walk from either of the two stations. A convenient bus stop is also very near the hotel with just around 2-3 minutes walk. Now, as I’ve said, one of my main criteria for a good accommodation is location. A good accommodation in Seoul is always near the subway or bus stop so definitely Hotel Maui passed my criteria.

But other than the distance to the stations, Hotel Maui is also conveniently located near a flea market (great bargains in Dongmyo market!), shops, restaurants (both cheap and mid-end restos), groceries and convenience stores. Also near is the Dongmyo shrine that was built in 1601 in honor of Chinese military commander Guan Yu. Great for taking pictures and entrance is free.

A guide on how to get to Hotel Maui is provided at the end of this blog.

Lovely table with umbrella outside

Room and Amenities

We booked a Double Bed room with air-conditioner (though we never used it) and a private bathroom.

The bed is ultra comfy with a nice, soft cushy blanket to keep you warm during the winter nights in Korea. Room’s spacious enough and you wouldn’t feel cramped in.

Our bed for the chilly nights

There’s also a LED cable TV, a big vanity mirror and a personal fridge. Their cable only has a few English channels but we were able to watch full length movies and even some Korean TV series! Wifi connection is pretty fast and strong too considering we stayed at the 4th floor. I guess they installed wifi repeaters or wireless routers in every floor.

TV and Fridge

Their bathroom is complete with a big mirror, hot and cold shower, toiletries and spacious enough to fit two people together at the same time 😛 And oh, a hair dryer is also provided for you beautiful women out there.

Bathroom complete with toiletries

What I also most like about the room is they have lots of electrical outlets! So you gadget freaks out there wouldn’t have a problem charging all your devices at the same time. Please also note that the outlet is different in Korea than here in the Philippines. But in case you forgot to bring one, you can borrow one from their staff which we also did. For more details, click here.

And of course, they passed one of our criteria: Cleanliness! We didn’t have any problems at all with this criteria. No insects, bed bugs or pungent smell whatsoever. The Hotel is fairly new and they can fix your room once every 3 days.

Service

The staff and manager of Hotel Maui are friendly and helpful people. If you need anything, they are there to help you like if you want to order food outside, they can order and have it delivered to the Hotel.

They provide free breakfast from 9am to 10am which I think is a little late because we usually get up at 6am and start traveling around 8am. Breakfast consists of boiled eggs, toasted bread with butter and jelly and coffee. Besides free breakfast, they provide free drinking water refill too. This is very helpful since 1L of bottled water in convenience stores cost around 1000 won.

They provide tours, a map of Seoul/subway and the fun part is they hold a party for their guests with free food and drinks! We joined a Gimbap, Fried Chicken and Beer party with other guests from different countries! We really had fun that night talking about anything under the sun.

Party time!

I don’t know if this will continue for long but I hope they continue doing this as guests will really have a good time and will always remember the Hotel for that.

Food and Drinks!

I think most of their staff are Chinese people. If you’re Chinese or know how to speak their language, then it’d be easy for you to communicate with their staff. But of course, they also speak English so no problem with that 🙂

As per their FB page, they currently have a ‘Grand Opening’ promotion running of up to 45% off their standard rates until Dec. 31, 2016. The Double room’s original rate per night is 80000 won but it now has a reduced rate of only 42000 won! That’s a great deal in Korea’s standards which are usually priced from 50000 to 70000 won. Now I know the promotion is up to this year (2016) only but you can always check their website/FB page or in Agoda where the rates are usually discounted! Just checking now, the rate for a double bedroom for one night for January 13, 2017 is just around 44k won! Price criteria passed! So remember, better check Agoda first 🙂

Triple Bed Room

How to get there

Here is a guide with pictures on how to get there from Dongmyo station.

Map of Hotel Maui taken from their FB Page

Alight at Dongmyo station exit 3. Walk northbound until you see K-Hostel then turn right at a street corner in a narrow alley.

Upon seeing K Hostel, turn right into a narrow alley

This is the narrow alley

Walk straight for two blocks passing Benikea Hotel and turn left when you see the With Me convenience store.

With Me Convenience Store

Just go straight and you’ll see Hotel Maui.

Final Thoughts

Our stay in Hotel Maui was smooth and fun! It’s a Bang for the buck accommodation which I strongly recommend to everyone else. We actually didn’t feel like we’re staying in a Budget Hotel here. The rooms and amenities are top notch and the staffs are kind and friendly! Like I said in the beginning of this post, it didn’t just pass our criteria but they surpass it! Two thumbs up for this new Hotel!

He is a programmer by profession but has a soul of a traveler. Aside from his ultimate dream of travelling around the world, he loves to eat, drink, listen to music, talk about aliens and the occasional secret guilty pleasure of singing love songs in videoke. His favorite superpower is to teleport from one place to another. I guess you know why.

Hi! You mentioned that you usually started your days at around 8AM. I read that Seoul stores open at 10AM. What can we do around Seoul if we want to start at around 7AM? Is it okay to look at some of the sights this early (like Bukchon Hanok Village, Gwanghwamun Gate, N Seoul, and Haneul Park)?

We’re planning on going this February 2017 and since we’ll be staying for only 4 days, we want to maximize the time we spend there.

Yes you can start early! Then do the shopping in the afternoon or evening.

For the palaces like Gyeongbokgung, please check the operation hours. I think it’s 9am then the changing of the guards start at 10am. You can go to Gwanghwamun square first (always open coz it’s a park) then Gyeongbokgung at around 830am.

About Us

My wife and I are on a life adventure to travel the world one step at a time. We maintain a travel fund and always travel on a budget without sacrificing much of what life has to offer. Besides travelling, we both love to eat and try different cuisines. We value experience more than any other things in the world. Join us in our epic adventure of love and travel! Cheers!